This weekend was the first earthdog test of the year, hosted by my club, the Greater Boston Area Earthdog Club (GBAEC).
Spot was entered in Master both days and Shelby was entered in IQ on Sunday.
Saturday was a perfect day-sunny but not too hot. I almost missed check in for Masters. It said 9:30 check in and 9:45 drawing for braces, so I assumed I needed to check in before 9:45, but really it was 9:30. We drew braces and I ended up in the first brace with Carolyn and Steiff. Steiff got his ME last year, so he was running for fun. This was Spot's first try at ME in a trial.
We started out, and Steiff took off right away. Spot did his usual thing-he will run ahead and either stop and wait, or run back to check on me. He found all the scented areas on the walk-up, which was good. He checked out the false den when I called him over for the judge. When we got to the tunnel he ran around, saw the rats, but didn't really mark. Steiff marked first, then the judge had me call Spot over and ask him to mark, which he did nicely. Steiff went first and Spot had to honor. He actually did really well. He barked a couple times, but nothing major. When it was Spot's turn for the tunnel he went in, then came back out the entrance like he does, so he can turn around. He went back in and went right to the rats in plenty of time. He worked well, and then it was time to take him out. The judge removed the cover and Spot backed up away from the rats. I called him and he came up, but I couldn't grab him. After that it was just crazy. He started going all around the tunnel, back and forth and wouldn't come out. It took me 5 minutes to get him! The judge said it was a shame because he had done well up to that point. Oh well.
On Sunday Spot was entered in ME again and I entered Shelby in IQ that morning just for the hell of it. We drew for braces and we were in the second brace with Nancy and her Westie. The dogs worked well together and the walk up was good, but again Spot didn't mark the rats until I asked him to. Again, we went second and had to honor. This time he was barking a little more, but I was able to pet him and he quieted. When it was our turn, he got into the tunnel and went directly to the rats. I asked the judge how long it took him and she said 10 seconds. That's 10 seconds to travel through 30 feet of tunnel including the roller! He worked like a champ and then it came time for the removal. I told the judge I would take the cover off, but it got stuck, so she helped. Spot backed up again, but I was able to get him to come up to the rats and this time I got a good handful of scruff. It was a challenge to pull him out one-handed, but I got him just in time. I wasn't sure if we had Q'd, the judge said his mark was weak, but it was the beginning of the season and he did do a good Parson mark once asked, so she passed both dogs. Yay!
Then it was Shelby's turn. She was excited and ready to go. I released her and she went right to the tunnel, and went in, but then came out again. I tried to really encourage her. She wanted the rats, trying to go over the tunnel to get to them, crawling all around, under the branches covering the tunnels, but wouldn't go all the way through to get the rats. She seemed to get to the corner but then turn around. We'll do some more training and see if she can get the big picture by the end of the summer.
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